Cuba

In Cuba, WFP's work focuses on helping reduce anaemia among kids from six months to 3 years old. Photo: WFP Photolibrary

Summary

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Students in Bolivia are Waiting to Hear from You

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Providing nutritious meals in school is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways we can make a difference in the life of a child. Kids of the Huarimarca School in Bolivia receive a WFP meal every day at school - and they're waiting to hear from you. Ask them a question and we will send you their answers. And if you feel you want to make a next step, consider investing in their future by donating to support WFP school meals programmes in Bolivia.

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At the Huarimarca School in Bolivia. (Copyright: WFP/Ximena Loza)

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Overview

Cuba, with a population of a little over 11 million people, imports about 80% of its domestic food requirements. A number of measures are being taken to increase food production, chief among which is the allocation of fallow land to private individuals and groups, as well as the reduction of the amount of land devoted to sugar cane cultivation, but the country’s vulnerability to hurricanes and droughts, coupled with the increase in global food prices and the financial crisis, makes the path to national food security difficult.

The eastern region of Cuba – encompassing the provinces of Guantánamo, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas, Holguín, and Camagüey — is the most vulnerable to food insecurity.

Cuba’s education and health system are admirable and have put the country well on the path to achievement of four of the eight MDGs. The main public health problem is anaemia, with a prevalence in the east of 56,7% among children under the age of 24 months and 20,1% amongst those between the ages of 2 and 5.

There are a number of reasons for this, the main ones being: i) inadequate food intake; ii) parasitic or infectious diseases; iii) dearth of iron-rich food; iv) difficulties in access to food; v) insufficient knowledge of anemia; vi) inadequate use of dietary supplements; vii) deficiencies in water and sanitation; y viii) inadequate hygiene practices, which inhibits iron absorption.

WFP Activities

The WFP-assisted development project in support of the national plan to combat anaemia and iron deficiency aims at achieving the following direct outcomes through its various components:

contributing to the reduction of anaemia prevalence amongst children from six months to three years of age;

contributing to the reduction of anaemia prevalence among children aged four and five;

improving the feeding habits and practices among households;

strengthening food and nutritional surveillance;

achieving the production of micronutrient enriched flour by local counterparts; and

strengthening the handling and warehousing of corn-soya blend (CSB) and micronutrient enriched flour by local counterparts.